McPHERSON, Kan. – The Southwestern College volleyball team returned to their Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) slate with a road battle at McPherson College against the host Bulldogs on Tuesday evening. After encouragingly splitting the first two sets of play, the Moundbuilders dropped the last two, falling to the Bulldogs by a 3-1 final in four sets.

The opening set was not the Builders' best, as they converted on just eight of their 36 swings on offense, while also committing eight errors. The Bulldogs took advantage, spiking down 13 of their 34 attacks while only picking up three attacking errors. Southwestern allowed a 11-4 run by McPherson to end the set, making the score 25-17 for the hosts at the conclusion of the stanza.

Frame number two was a back-and-forth affair from the get-go, as neither team had more than a three-point advantage at any point in the set. Southwestern had their best offensive set of the match by smashing home 12 kills on 42 tries. In the meantime, they only racked up four miscues as attackers. McPherson did still have more putaways than SC in the stanza, but their 15 kills were combatted by six errors. After the Builders took a 24-23 lead, one of those six Bulldog mishaps led to a 25-23 SC triumph to knot the score at 1-1.

Unfortunately for the Moundbuilders, they were not able to take control of the match with the momentum they earned from the set two victory. The third frame was the sloppiest of the night on defense for Southwestern, as they allowed 15 kills on just 29 total swings from McPherson. The eight kills on 34 tries that the Builders had were not nearly enough to keep up with such a potent attack from the home squad. The stanza ended in a 25-15 loss for the Moundbuilders.

Things would end unceremoniously in the fourth set, as though the squad showed stick-to-itiveness, they were unable to stick with the Bulldogs. The offensive firepower from the hosts carried them to the win in the period, as they outpaced each of their three preceding kill totals in set number four. They pounded home 17 kills on 47 attempts in the set, while totaling seven errors. Southwestern had their lowest number of kills in the match in their final set, converting on only six of their 37 swings. A total of four miscues were compiled by the SC hitters en route to a 25-17 loss in the match's final set.

Brianna Ede would lead the Moundbuilders in kills, yet again, as she was effective to the tune of nine kills on 21 swings. She only committed three errors, racking up a .286 attacking clip in the process. Jayda Brittenum (16 attempts) and Hannah Weber (28 attempts) each tallied seven finishes, while KaSandra Lyons (.286) was able to put away six swings out of her 14 total with just two miscues.

Assisting the Builder hitters were both Sierra Norlin and Maela Stevens. Norlin accounted for 17 distributions of the ball in the match, while Stevens trailed her by just four, with 13.

Sophia Wicker was the only Builder who was able to put together a double-digit performance in the dig category, lifting 14 Bulldog attacks off the floor. Four SC defenders were able to tally five digs, as Stevens, Weber, Norlin and Kinley Williams made up that list.

It was a disappointing end to the match for Southwestern (9-12, 4-5 KCAC), as they felt they had what it took to compete with the Bulldogs after splitting the opening two stanzas. McPherson was just too much on this night, but the Builders have three remaining regular-season tilts on their slate, including a home match against the Bethel College Threshers on Saturday, October 29 at 1 p.m. inside Stewart Field House. Two of the team's final three matchups will be at home in the 2022 campaign, as the squad hopes to have the chance to host a KCAC Tournament First Round bout this year.

--buildersports.com--